2-12 Stratford Set For Height Boost

Plans are being considered to scale up the proposed development by Stock Woolstencroft Architects at 2-12 Stratford High Street near the 2010 Olympic campus.

With the previous scheme consisting of a collection of three buildings of up to 82 metres and 28-storeys, the new proposals could see the tallest element given an uplift to 35-storeys pushing the height of the project to a little over 100 metres.

The second 13-storey block could also be set for a height boost of two floors to 15-storeys whilst the total amount of residential accommodation on offer throughout the scheme has been proposed to increase from 174 apartments to 191.

At the same time modifications may also be made to the amount of commercial floorspace on offer with this being reduced from 1,450 square metres to 691 square metres. The car parking provision will remain roughly the same at 44 spaces this time instead of 46.

If the proposals do go past a screening opinion they represent the latest example of height inflation in the area. Although towers up to the height of 80 metres have become common, little has yet gone ahead above it raising fears that the skyline will have no more definition than the previous one that was dominated by council blocks rather than an emerging major district of London in its own right.

Today Stratford and the Olympic site are barely visible on London's skyline from a distance showing just how much it lacks landmark buildings. The growth of a collection of 100 metre plus towers on a series of select gateway sites can do much to challenge that perception and keep it in the public eye long after the Olympic flame has been extinguished.